Improvement in refrigerating provision-cars



Jaim Jae Patsnted Jan. 30, 1872.

Zigi

UNITED STATES RATEN Tf.SlJElf C JEELF JOHN J. BATE, OF BROOKLYN, NEWYORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN REFRIGERATING PROVISION-CARS.

Specieation forming part of Letters Patent No. 123,077, dated January30, 187Q; antedated January 15, 1872.

I, JOHN J. BATE, ofthe city of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, haveinvented certain Improvements in Refrigeratin g Provision-Cars, of whichthe following is a specification:

My invention relates to that class of cars commonly calledprovision-cars, and which are intended for the conveyance of freshmeats, game, etc., the distance between i the point of departure and ofdelivery being so great as to require the use of some artificial meansfor the preservation of the meat, &c.

The accompanying drawing represents a car with my improvement forming apart thereof,

Figure l being a view of the interior of the car, the roof beingremoved, and Fig. 2 a view by vertical section on the dotted line ofFig. 1.

The means shown by this drawing are designed to keep up a freecirculation of air through the provision-chamber a, the air being usedover and over again, and being forced through an icechamber, b, wellfilled with ice, by which the air is cooled, deprived of its moisture,and purified, so that the air circulating through the provision-chamberand the meats, &c., within the chamber, will be kept in a sweet and purecondition. The circulation of air, when the car isiin motion, ismaintained by a blower or rotary fan. c, placed in the messengers roomd, or in the ice-chamber. The rotation of the fan is kept up by a bandor cord passed around the axle of the car, around a pulley, e, and apulley, f, on the shaft of the fan, as is shown by Fig. 1. The air isbrought over the partition g, between the icechamber and theprovision-chamber through the space h, conducted down through the ice tothe entrance i of the blower, and passes from the blower fordistribution through the perforated pipe 7'. At the lower part of thepartition g is a hinged door, k. This door can be kept closed while theblower is in action, so that the entire air will pass through the spaceh, and down through the ice-chamber to the blower; or it may be openedto a greater or less extent for the passage of air through it, so thatthe strata of air nearest the bottom of the provision-chamber will bemore fullydrawn toward the blower than when the air is drawn through thespace g only.

When the blower is not in action, the car being at rest, by opening thedoor k there will be a circulation of the air from the provisionchamberthrough the door-space and space h, and through the ice-chamber, thuspreventing a stagnation of air in the provision-chamber.

In the drawing, lindicates the loor of the car, m the roof, and n theends of the car.

This arrangement of means for refrigeratin g the provision-chamber ofcars may be applied to the like chambers of ware or provisionhouses, andchambers for keeping meats and provisions generally. When so adapted thefan-blower may be operated by any motive power at hand, or mechanicaldevices convenient, among which may be included clockmovements. When thelast-named means are used I prefer that the movements of the clock beactuated by India-rubber springs, instead of metallic springs orweights.

I am aware that a forced circulation of air in refrigeratingprovision-cars is not new, the same being set forth in the patentsgranted to D. E. Soines, in 1867 and 1868; and in apatent granted to W.Bray in 1868; but in neit-her of their patents is there an arrangementfor hav ing a natural circulation of the cooled air when the forcedcirculation is suspended, as is recited in this specification.

What I claim as my invention is- The arrangement of the door k, inrelation to the air-spaces, ice-chamber, andtubes, for allowing thecirculation of air when the car is not in motion or the blower inaction, a-s here in recited, in combination with a blower or means for aforced circulation ofthe air, as described.

This specification signed this 12th day of April 1871.

J OHN J. BATE. Witnesses:

JOSEPH J. BATE, F. H. BELL.

